Musgrave 15th in Kroger 250 at Martinsville

Martinsville, Va.  (March 31, 2008) -  Ted Musgrave drove the No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota Tundra to 15th in Saturday’s Kroger 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Musgrave survived numerous bumps and scrapes and a turn two spin in the late stages of the race, and pushed his way through a turn four melee on the final lap in a heated battle to the checkered flag.

“I came over the radio late in the race and told my guys I couldn’t believe what I was seeing back in the pack,” Musgrave said. “They were trying to wreck each other back there racing for 28th place. That’s silly. There were a lot of guys out there not using their heads. That’s what happened to us – we just got taken out. I raced with some guys all race long and they’d give a tap to let you know they were there and wanted through, but when we got spun it was because he just drove right through us. But I guess you’ll have that here at Martinsville. It’s so hard to pass here anymore that sometimes that’s what someone has to do to make the pass. And that’s what he did.”

Musgrave raced most of the way with some damage to the nose of the Martinsville-based HT Motorsports truck but it did not have any negative effects. But when he finally climbed from his ride after the conclusion of the race the nose was so smashed it bore no resemblance to a Toyota Tundra.

“That all happened in turn four on the last lap,” he said. “They starting spinning in front of us and we had to find a way through it. It all backed up and we bashed the nose in. You can race here with the fenders bent up and the nose smashed a little as long as you don’t damage the radiator. But I am really glad that happened on the last lap, we probably couldn’t have gone much farther than that.”

Musgrave moves to 11th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship standings with 493 points. He is just six points out of the top ten. Kyle Busch leads the standings with 645 points.

Next up for Musgrave and the No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota is the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway. Practice is set for Friday April 25, 2008 with qualifying and the 167-lap/250 mile race set for Saturday April 26, 2008. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting at 5:30 P.M. Eastern. The race will also be broadcast live on selected radio affiliates of the Motor Racing Network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.